Global Iron and Steel Tracker

country/areas included

1,294

iron and steel plants tracked

1,000+

plant owners

3.7B

tonnes annual crude steel capacity

Overview

Global Energy Monitor’s Global Iron and Steel Tracker (GIST) tracks crude iron and steel plants around the world, revealing technology pathways, capacity distribution, and implications for the transition away from coal-based steel.

The Global Iron and Steel Tracker (GIST) provides information on global crude iron and steel production plants and includes every plant currently operating with a capacity of 500,000 tonnes per year (ttpa) or more of crude iron or steel. The GIST also includes all plants meeting this threshold that have been proposed or under construction since 2017 or retired or mothballed since 2020. Plants consist of multiple units, depending on the iron and steel production method used.

Iron and steel are typically produced through coal-based methods — blast furnace and basic oxygen furnace (BF-BOF) or open hearth furnace (OHF) — or electricity-based production — electric arc furnace (EAF) charged with scrap metal, pig iron, direct reduced iron, or a combination. The GIST map and underlying data are updated annually. Each plant included in the tracker is linked to a wiki page on GEM.wiki, which provides additional details.

Continued coal-based BF-BOF investment, rather than a shift to lower-emissions technology, risks decades of carbon lock-in from the industry.

China operates around 60% of existing BF-BOF capacity globally, while India accounts for 57% of BF-BOF developments.

What's inside?

The most recent release of this data was in March 2026. There will be limited updates to the data in Q2, Q3, and Q4.

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 Summary tables

Count of Iron & Steel Plants by Development Status in Each Country/Area

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Count of Operating Iron & Steel Plants by Production Method in Each Country/Area

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Iron Capacity (TTPA) by Development Status in Each Country/Area

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Iron Capacity (TTPA) by Method and Development Status in Each Country/Area

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Operating Iron Capacity (TTPA) by Production Method in Each Country/Area

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Operating Steel Capacity (TTPA) by Production Method in Each Country/Area

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Steel Capacity (TTPA) by Development Status in Each Country/Area

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Steel Capacity (TTPA) by Method and Development Status in Each Country/Area

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Insights and updates

The latest news and resources from GEM.

Press release

Heavy industry

Hitting global goal for green steel hinges on progress in India

Coal-based steelmaking plans jeopardize India's net-zero target

Less than half of top 50 steel producers have a net zero target

Brazil’s vast renewables can power steel decarbonization

Growth in cleaner steel project pipeline puts industry’s net zero goal in sight

July 2024

Read Press release

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View all insights

Methodology

Capacity is defined as the tonnes of crude iron or steel per annum that a plant/unit is capable of producing. Production is actual tonnes of crude iron or steel per annum produced at a plant in a given year. Capacity for each plant is researched on the unit-level and aggregated by operating status and unit type to provide plant-level figures. Production data is only researched at the plant-level.

The Global Iron and Steel Tracker provides a sum total crude steelmaking capacity and ironmaking capacity (across all production methods) for each plant. Steelmaking is a process that uses a furnace to produce crude steel from pig iron/hot metal, direct reduced iron/sponge iron, and/or scrap steel. Thus, steelmaking capacity and actual production refers to the output of steelmaking furnaces. Ironmaking is the process of producing liquid iron by reducing iron ore with either metallurgical coal (to produce pig iron/hot metal) or a reducing gas or elemental carbon produced from natural gas or coal (to produce direct reduced iron/sponge iron). Thus, ironmaking capacity refers to the output of ironmaking furnaces/units.

Raw material preparation for iron and steelmaking requires other units that also have individual capacity and production levels. Preparation of iron ore for the iron and steelmaking process often involves pelletization or sintering to create uniform-sized iron ore pieces. In coal-based iron and steelmaking, metallurgical coal is transformed to “coke” through a baking process in coke ovens.

Capacities for crude steel, iron, ferronickel, coke, iron pellets, and sinter are researched and recorded. When available, actual production of crude iron and steel is provided, beginning with the year 2019. When possible, plant steelmaking capacity and production was distinguished by the production process used (i.e. electric arc furnace, basic oxygen furnace, or open hearth furnace). Ironmaking capacity and production is also distinguished by production process and product (i.e. blast furnace (hot metal/pig iron), direct reduced iron plant (DRI/sponge iron)). When the process for iron or steelmaking is unknown, it appears in the “Other/unspecified capacity” column.

If plant capacity for a given product was known to be greater than zero, but the exact value could not be found or estimated with confidence, capacity was listed as “>0” and production was listed as “unknown”. If plant capacity or production for a given product was known to be zero, capacity and production were each listed as “N/A” (not applicable).

Global Energy Monitor’s wiki pages provide detailed capacity and production information by steel and ironmaking process, as well as capacities for ferronickel, coke, iron pellets, and sinter when available.

Frequently Asked Questions

The colors indicate the iron and steel production method/types of unit at the plant.

“Integrated” steelmaking refers to steel plants that produce both iron and steel onsite (as opposed to plants that only produce iron or produce steel from purchased iron materials only). In other words, integrated plants produce both steel and the iron material used to make the steel. Integrated steel plants may use different combinations of furnaces to produce iron and steel. Emissions from integrated steelmaking are mainly produced during the ironmaking process. Thus, integrated steelmaking processes are divided by ironmaking processes as detailed below.

“Ironmaking” refers to plants that produce iron products only. Ironmaking plants include plants that use blast furnaces and direct reduced iron production.

“Electric” steelmaking refers to steel plants that only produce steel onsite (not iron) and use an electric arc furnace. Electric steelmaking plants may use scrap metal, sponge iron, pig iron, or some combination of these iron materials as feed.

In the GIST, steelmaking routes are categorized as follows:

Electric: Plants that produce only steel onsite and use an electric arc furnace (EAF).
Electric, oxygen: Plants that produce only steel onsite and use an electric arc furnace (EAF) and basic oxygen furnace (BOF).
Oxygen: Plants that produce only steel onsite and use a basic oxygen furnace (BOF).
Integrated (BF): Plants that produce both iron and steel onsite. Pig iron is produced in a blast furnace (BF). Steel may be produced using one or more types of furnaces.
Integrated (DRI): Plants that produce both iron and steel onsite. Sponge iron is produced in a direct reduced iron plant (DRI plant). Steel may be produced using one or more types of furnaces.
Integrated (BF and DRI): Plants that produce both iron and steel onsite. Pig iron is produced in a blast furnace (BF) and sponge iron is produced in a direct reduced iron plant (DRI plant). Steel may be produced using one or more types of furnaces.
Integrated (other): Plants that produce both iron and steel onsite. Pig iron is produced through a direct smelting process. Steel may be produced using one or more types of furnaces.
Integrated (unknown): Plants that produce both iron and steel onsite. Furnace(s) used to produce iron is unknown. Steel may be produced using one or more types of furnaces.
Ironmaking (BF): Plants that produce only iron onsite. Pig iron is produced in a blast furnace (BF).
Ironmaking (DRI): Plants that produce only iron onsite. Sponge iron is produced in a direct reduced iron plant (DRI plant).
Ironmaking (BF and DRI): Plants that produce only iron onsite. Pig iron is produced in a blast furnace (BF) and sponge iron is produced in a direct reduced iron plant (DRI plant).
Iron other/unspecified: Furnace(s) used to produce iron is unknown.
Steel other/unspecified: Furnace(s) used to produce steel is unknown.

The recommended citation is "Global Iron and Steel Tracker, Global Energy Monitor, March 2026 (V1) release."

Contact

For questions about the Global Iron and Steel Tracker, contact Astrid Grigsby-Schulte:

Astrid Grigsby-Schulte

Project Manager, Global Iron & Steel Tracker

View Profile

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Global Iron and Steel Tracker

On This Page:

Overview

Global Energy Monitor’s Global Iron and Steel Tracker (GIST) tracks crude iron and steel plants around the world, revealing technology pathways, capacity distribution, and implications for the transition away from coal-based steel.

Continued coal-based BF-BOF investment, rather than a shift to lower-emissions technology, risks decades of carbon lock-in from the industry.

China operates around 60% of existing BF-BOF capacity globally, while India accounts for 57% of BF-BOF developments.

What's inside?

Insights and updates

Methodology

Frequently Asked Questions

Contact

© 2026 Global Energy Monitor
All Rights Reserved
440 N Barranca Ave #2878, Covina, CA 91723

Built by 89up

Global Iron and Steel Tracker

On This Page:

Tracker map

Dashboard

Overview

Global Energy Monitor’s Global Iron and Steel Tracker (GIST) tracks crude iron and steel plants around the world, revealing technology pathways, capacity distribution, and implications for the transition away from coal-based steel.

Continued coal-based BF-BOF investment, rather than a shift to lower-emissions technology, risks decades of carbon lock-in from the industry.

China operates around 60% of existing BF-BOF capacity globally, while India accounts for 57% of BF-BOF developments.

What's inside?

Meet the team

Related projects

Insights and updates

Methodology

Frequently Asked Questions

Contact

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© 2026 Global Energy MonitorAll Rights Reserved440 N Barranca Ave #2878, Covina, CA 91723

Built by 89up

© 2026 Global Energy Monitor
All Rights Reserved
440 N Barranca Ave #2878, Covina, CA 91723